Ships That Will Never Sail
by Theralion
Summary: Few people would think that Tsuyu and Aizawa would be a viable couple, but apparently, some people do, anyway, so Aizawa has to put the rumors to rest. Some hints at Uraraka/Midoriya and Jiro/Momo.


**Ships That Will Never Sail**

One morning not long after the end of winter break, as Class 1-A of U.A. High School settled into homeroom, their teacher, Shota Aizawa, came to the front of the class, with Tsuyu Asui standing next to him. The class had long understood that Aizawa wasn't the most cheerful or pleasant person to be around, but most of them noticed that something was bothering him, possibly related to how he had recently been called out of class by an emergency announcement. If they hoped to learn what exactly the news he got was, though, they would be disappointed, since that was not the only thing on his mind.

Aizawa had a frown on his face that, while not unusual for him, was even more appropriate than usual given his current mood. He'd been asked by the principal to say a few words to his class about a certain matter, and while he had more important things to worry about, he couldn't do anything about them at the moment. With a sigh, he faced the class and got down to business.

"I've got an announcement to make, class," Aizawa said, even less enthusiastically than usual. "It has come to my attention that... certain people believe that I am in a relationship with Asui. Ordinarily, I wouldn't pay any attention to the rumor mill, and think it's a waste of time to even have to say this to you, but I was asked to put the gossip to rest. That should be enough on its own, but if you have any questions for me or for Asui, out with it."

Izuku Midoriya raised his hand, prompting Aizawa to groan as he wondered what he hadn't made clear.

"I've got question, Asu-er, Tsuyu-chan," Midoriya said. "Why don't you ask Aizawa-sensei to call you by your first name?"

"It's simple, Midoriya-chan," Tsuyu said. "I only ask that of my friends, and Aizawa-sensei isn't my friend."

Some wondered why Tsuyu continued to use surnames for many of her classmates, including some who used her first names on her. The reason was that while she was more than happy to be called by her first name by those who she considered her friends, she recognized that not everyone was comfortable being addressed so informally. If they were amenable to the prospect, they would ask her to call them by their first names, and Tsuyu would happily oblige, but in Aizawa's case, Tsuyu knew that invitation would never come.

"Perhaps I should clarify that remark," Aizawa said. "I'm responsible for all of my students, Asui included, and that means treating you in a fair and appropriate manner. In order to do so, I keep a certain professional distance from you all, so I can't call you my friends."

"That's true, sensei," Tsuyu said, "and the fact that you're a killjoy doesn't help. No offense."

"None taken," Aizawa said blandly. Either he was used to being called that, or he didn't see it as an insult. Despite her harsh words, Tsuyu was grateful to Aizawa, for teaching her and for saving her life during the villain attack on the USJ, but believed it was probably best to emphasize why she wasn't compatible with him.

Eijiro Kirishima then raised his hand.

"I've got a question related to that, sensei," Kirishima said. "Does that mean you would've expelled Tsuyu-chan with the rest of us if not for All Might's retirement?"

"Yes," Aizawa said flatly.

"Even though she tried to talk us out of it?" Kirishima said.

"I said yes," Aizawa said, "because what she should've done is report you to the proper authorities once it became clear you weren't backing down."

Tsuyu sighed. It was painful to be reminded of something she was ashamed of, since by taking the stance she had, she hadn't sided with her friends or followed the rules. The only silver lining was that her friends had forgiven her, and Aizawa had given her and the others an opportunity to regain his trust. Even so, there was one thing she felt she had to say.

"I'm not saying this is an excuse, sensei," Tsuyu said, "but I really didn't think they'd go out and save Bakugo like that, until you announced it to the rest of us."

"Maybe not," Aizawa said, "but do you think anyone who's determined enough to get this far on the path to becoming a hero would've backed down just because you asked them to?"

As Aizawa said that, he realized that it didn't just apply to Tsuyu. Kirishima, Midoriya and Todoroki were all the sort who didn't shy away from doing what they thought was right even if some people might disapprove, as Midoriya and Todoroki had demonstrated when they'd fought Stain in Hosu. As for Iida and Yaoyorozu, they, the class representatives, knew that the best way to keep those three in line was to go with them and keep them out of trouble. In the process, they'd become accomplices to the plan, but in the end, all five students and Bakugo had been able to get back safely.

A part of Aizawa wondered if threatening to expel the majority of the class, not just the offenders, was too harsh even for him, but he didn't regret how things had turned out. Eighteen of his students had earned their provisional licenses on the first attempt, and the remaining two had succeeded not long afterward. He was glad that he'd never had to expel those students, and even more glad that his words had spurred them onward to even greater success.

"That being said," Aizawa said, "I recognized you had the potential to become heroes worthy of filling the void All Might left by retiring, and it seems as though the second chance I gave you paid off. Don't make me regret it."

Ochaco Uraraka winced inwardly. While a part of her had naturally been loath to break the rules, hence why she refused to help Midoriya save Bakugo, another part worried if that was only because she knew she couldn't being expelled from U.A. wouldn't just derail her dream of being a hero, but likely cause her no end of trouble down the line and separate her from Midoriya. Because of that, she sympathized with Tsuyu when the latter regretted what she'd said to the rescue team, especially since Uraraka herself didn't know whether her opposition to the rescue attempt was selfless or selfish.

Uraraka then raised her hand, a personal question on her mind.

"I've got a question that's mainly for Aizawa-sensei, but Tsuyu-chan can also answer if she wants," Uraraka said. "Wouldn't it be hard to balance a romantic relationship with hero work?"

"I think it would, Ochaco-chan," Tsuyu said. "Back in middle school, I didn't have time to make friends because I was so busy studying to get into U.A. and taking care of my younger siblings. Habuko-chan was the only exception, and we only became friends because she didn't have many other friends, either. Getting a significant other would've been even tougher back then, and ever since I started school here, things have only gotten harder."

Aizawa had to agree. Despite being less sociable than Tsuyu, he also had friends, even if he was more likely to call them a bunch of eccentrics who just happened to stick around him for many years. Unfortunately, one of his closest friends was no longer around, and Aizawa was painfully aware of the reason why.

"I won't lie to you, Uraraka," Aizawa said. "If your goal in life is to settle down, get married and have kids, you're aiming for the wrong line of work. If your goal is to become a good hero, then you should understand that you won't succeed if you let yourself get sidetracked. Of course, I haven't actually tried to seek out romance myself, so all I can say that while I wouldn't recommend being both a hero and a wife, it isn't necessarily impossible. In the end, it's up to you to decide what's most important to you, then give your all into achieving it. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Uraraka said.

A part of Uraraka agreed with Aizawa. She gave everything she had to becoming a hero, and even so, many of her peers at U.A. were significantly ahead of her. One such peer was the boy she was interested in, Midoriya, whose drive to succeed was no less than Uraraka's. If she wanted to be a hero, much less surpass Midoriya, she couldn't afford to get distracted by her feelings.

Another part, however, had her doubts. Not only had Midoriya come from a different middle school, but his singular determination to be a hero meant that Uraraka would most likely never have gotten to know him unless they'd gone to U.A. together. They said there were more fish in the sea, but to use the analogy, Uraraka had no desire to let an especially promising one get away.

Ultimately, Uraraka couldn't predict the future. Perhaps she'd become a great hero, end up with Midoriya and wonder what she'd ever worried about. Perhaps Midoriya had always been out of her reach, meaning that she'd wasted her time yearning after him. Perhaps becoming a pro hero was impossible for her. Or perhaps she couldn't achieve either goal. For now, the only thing she could do was continue working toward being a great hero, and hope that everything else would take care of itself.

"Got a question, Kyoka-chan?" Tsuyu said as Kyoka Jiro raised her hand.

"Yes, mainly for Aizawa-sensei," Jiro said. "While you were doing home visits, you met the Asui family, didn't you?"

"Yes, Jiro, I did," Aizawa said. "Before you ask, they were surprisingly receptive toward letting their eldest daughter stay at the dorms, but the meeting would have gone very differently if I'd asked for her hand in marriage."

While Tsuyu hadn't gotten out of the battle with the League of Villains unscathed, her injuries had been less severe than many of her classmates. If even Bakugo, Jiro and Hagakure's parents, as well as Midoriya's mother, had ultimately been convinced to consent to letting their children continue attending U.A. and stay at the dorms, then it was natural for the Asuis to do the sme for Tsuyu. Tsuyu had her reservations, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see her parents or siblings nearly as often, but the rest of her family had encouraged her. Since she'd done her part to look after Satsuki and Samidare, it was only fair that she be allowed to pursue her dream with her friends.

"I have a little brother named Samidare and a little sister named Satsuki," Tsuyu said. "Since Samidare's nine and Satsuki's six, my parents aren't worried about them going any farther than thinking that classmates of the opposite sex are 'cute.'"

Jiro winced a little at hearing "the opposite sex." She had a bit of an interest in Yaoyorozu, but not only did all of Uraraka's concerns apply, but so did the fact that they were both girls. Yaoyorozu's mother had come off as surprisingly down-to-earth and friendly when meeting her daughter's friends, but how would she deal with a daughter-in-law? And was Momo herself even into girls? Jiro would have to deal with both those concerns, as well as others, before she even weighed the issue of balancing heroics with romance that Uraraka was struggling with.

Shoto Todoroki raised his hand.

"There's something I'm curious about," Todoroki said. "If Aizawa-sensei and Asui had a kid, what sort of Quirk would that kid have?"

Tsuyu shrugged. Her family consisted of people with amphibian-type heteromorphic Quirks, so she honestly had no idea what sort of kids she'd have if she married someone with a quirk like Aizawa's.

"I can only guess," Aizawa said. "Does anyone want to take a stab at it?"

"I don't know," Midoriya said. "My dad can manipulate fire, and my mom can telekinetically manipulate small objects, but that doesn't explain my Quirk."

Katsuki Bakugo snorted and glanced at Midoriya, thinking, _"That's **one** way of putting it, Deku."_ As the only one who'd known for a fact that Midoriya had been Quirkless until the end of junior high school, the one who'd heard about Midoriya's confession after the Heroes vs. Villains exercise, and someone who knew that it was possible to transfer Quirks, he'd realized that All Might had given Midoriya his Quirk. There was obviously more going on with Midoriya's Quirk than he would let on, or either of them knew, but they couldn't discuss it openly.

Aizawa looked around, and seeing that no one else had raised their hands, let off a sigh of relief. The past few days had been hard, and the hardest times were still ahead of him, but for now, he was happy that this question and answer session was apparently over.

"If no one has any other questions, we should move on," Aizawa said, "since we've wasted enough time on this nonsense. Let's get back to work, at least until the higher-ups hear another frivolous rumor. Just remember, class- don't believe everything you hear, and be careful what you say."

Class resumed its usual business, even though several members had weighty thoughts on their minds. There was one thing everyone could agree on, though- Tsuyu and Aizawa would make an awful couple.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Thank you for reading this fic.

I heard about how the Tsuyu/Aizawa pairing is apparently popular in Japan on TV Tropes. The age gap and power imbalance aside, I can't see how they'd be even remotely compatible. This includes a few characters' thoughts on it.

It's a bit of headcanon, but I think that the decision to expel not just the five people who participated in the rescue attempt, but to hold everyone else who wasn't kidnapped or unconscious equally responsible was rather draconian. Considering that it's revealed in Chapter 254 that Aizawa re-enrolled all the students he'd expelled, maybe he only claimed that he would have expelled those seventeen students as a "rational deception" to motivate them to behave and earn their provisional licenses, most likely because he only mentions it after it's clear that he's not going to actually do it.

Jiro references a chapter in the second volume of School Briefs in which the study group goes to the Yaoyorozu house. While Mrs. Yaoyorozu initially seems stern and a bit disapproving of Jiro, she actually is fascinated by Jiro's punk appearance, having been reminded of her own past.


End file.
